Every trade deadline needs a name that sounds boring on paper but turns into a real tug-of-war behind the scenes, and this year that's Luis Torrens. He's not a star. He's a 30-year-old backup catcher hitting.223 with a.604 OPS. But apparently that doesn't matter to contending teams who need someone who can actually catch, because the White Sox and other clubs are reportedly circling him hard as the deadline closes in.
Jon Heyman reported the White Sox and other teams are pursuing Torrens, with the Mets reluctant to move him.
https://t.co/AiGKJo6Ila White Sox and others are targeting Luis Torrens, but the Mets do not want to trade their beloved backup backstop
Here's the thing about Torrens, and why teams keep calling: the bat is forgettable but the glove isn't. He's consistently graded as one of the better framers in baseball and has thrown out runners at a top-of-the-league clip this year, which is exactly the kind of skill set contenders quietly hoard down the stretch when every extra out matters. A backup catcher who steals strikes and shuts down the running game is worth more than his batting average suggests, especially in October baseball where every borderline pitch can decide a series.
The complicating factor is that the Mets aren't just holding Torrens because they like him — they're holding him because they just paid him. He signed an extension earlier this year that locks him in for two more seasons beyond this one, which makes trading him now look less like a savvy sell and more like a confusing reversal. Front offices generally don't extend a guy in the spring just to ship him out in July, and doing so would raise eyebrows in a clubhouse that reportedly views Torrens as one of the more well-liked pieces on the roster.
So if Chicago actually wants him, the price isn't just prospects. Reports out of the Mets' orbit suggest the real ask would involve the White Sox eating a bad contract to sweeten the deal, since New York has little incentive to simply subtract a cheap, productive depth piece without getting real financial relief back. That's a much tougher sell for a rebuilding club than just handing over a couple of prospects, and it's part of why this rumor has legs without necessarily going anywhere.
Torrens isn't the sexiest name on the deadline board, but that's kind of the point. Depth pieces like him are the difference between a bullpen game going sideways in August and a team surviving a rough stretch behind the plate. Whether the White Sox or anyone else actually pries him away from Queens is another matter entirely — but expect his name to keep popping up in trade chatter right up until the deadline buzzer.